My

Story

María

del

Mar

My name is María del Mar, I’m 30 years old and originally from Colombia. I had to flee my home country when I was 16 years old due to the internal armed conflict. I came to Ecuador with my mother and my siblings in search for safety and better opportunities. The fact that I am Colombian, a refugee and a woman was, and still is, challenging. Colombian women are often offered low income jobs and there is the misguided belief that they are more likely to end up working in questionable areas. These societal perceptions made it also difficult for me to find work.

Through my backstory and my personal experiences, I discovered my life purpose though: serving and helping others. I was fortunate to connect with FUDELA (Fundación de las Américas) and have been working with children and adolescents for several years now. At FUDELA I conduct playful activities that focus on soft skills development. The children and young adults here come from very troubled backgrounds. For them, I create a space where they can step away from the realities they face at home, in school or in society in general. On the pitch, they can forget for one or two hours that they experience violence or that their families are socially and economically disadvantaged. Seeing the children smile during the sessions is my favourite part of being a coach. But my role as a coach is not only about carrying out activities on the pitch – it’s also about providing continuous support and following up on the issues burdening the children.

The challenges my community faces also put constraints on my work as a coach. Since Ecuador has become a transit country, with people constantly moving and not settling in one place, our work with the children is limited to the time they are here. Also, the lack of economic resources forces children to work or become victims of sexual and labour exploitation. These circumstances prevent them from participating in a continuous process and limits the positive impact we can have on their lives.

Nevertheless, football and the sport for development methodology we apply at FUDELA helps the children to adapt to these difficult surroundings. In fact, the methodology and the work I do also empowered me as a woman, allowing me to let go of the societal prejudices that were imposed on me. This feeling of empowerment I want to pass on to the children I work with.

The tools and methodologies imparted in the Young Coach Education will help me to make my training sessions more attractive for the children. As I am not a football player, I learned to incorporate more the technical aspects of football into my activities. Furthermore, the input on how to plan a training session, giving the sessions a structure and managing time will allow me to get even more out of my work.